Free College Essays - Fear in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily :: A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner

The Power of Fear in A Rose for Emily A Rose for Emily Life is fickle and most people will be a victim of circumstance and the times. Some people choose not to let circumstance rule them and, as they say, time waits for no soldiery. Faulkners Emily did not have the individual confidence, or maybe self-esteem and self-worth, to believe that she could stand alone and succeed at life especially in the show of changing times. She had always been ruled by, and depended on, men to protect, defend and act for her. From her Father, through the manservant Tobe, to Homer Barron, all her life was dependent on men. The few flashes of individuality showed her faculty to rise to the occasion, to overcome her dependency, when the action was the only solution available. Like buying the poison or getting money by offering china-painting classes. Life is blue and tragic some of which is made for us and some of which we make ourselves. Emily had a hard life. Everything that she loved left her. He r sky pilot probably impressed upon her that every man she met was no good for her. The townspeople even state when her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her and in a way, people were glad beingness left aloneShe had become humanized (219). This sounds as if her fathers death was sort of liberation for Emily. In a way it was, she could begin to date and woo men of her choice and liking. Her father couldnt chase them off any more. But then again, did she have the know-how to do this, after all those years of her fathers past actions? It also sounds as if the townspeople thought Emily was above the law because of her high-class stature. Now since the passing of her father she may be analogous them, a middle class working person. Unfortunately, for Emily she became home bound. She didnt socialize much except for having her manservant Tobe visit to do some chores and go to the store for her. Faulkner depicts Emily and her family as a high social class . Emily did carry her self with dignity and people gave her that respect, based from fear of what Emily could do to them. Emily was a strong willed person especially when she went into the dose store for the arsenic.